Thursday, October 13, 2011

OH! MY MOTHER! HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR MILK,FOOD,CLOTHS,PROTECTION &LOVE IN NEED!OH! MY FATHER! HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING ME EDUCATION,GUIDANCE,ADVICE AS YOUNG!OH MY SISTERS &BROTHER! HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR AFFECTION,TRUE CRITISM &HAPPINESS!OH MY WIFE! HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR AFFECTION,CARE,PROTECTION,TOLERANCE&TASTY FOODOH MY CHILDREN! HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR LAUGHTER,PROGRESS,AFFECTION & COURTECY!OH MY UNCLES & AUNTS! HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVICE,LAUGHTER,FRIENDLINESS&SMILES!OH MY FRIENDS &RELATIVES! HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR JOKES,LAUGHTER,HOSPTALITY,SMILE!OH MY POLITICAL,RELIGIOUS,SOCIAL,SPRITUAL,MENTORS!HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR COURAGE!OH MY VILLAGE! HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVELY NATURE,GREEN VIEWS & LOVELY TEMPLES!OH MY JAFFNA! HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR GREAT-HISTORY,EDUCATION,CULTURE&HOSPITALITY!OH MY LANKA!HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR NATURAL-BEAUTY,SEA,NICE FOOD & WARM CLIMATE!OH MY NORWAY! HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME&MY FAMILY PROTECTION,SAFETY,LIFE& CARE!OH MY WORLD!HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR YOUR REGULAR DAY&NIGHT;SUMMER&WINTER CIRCLE SAFELY!OH MY SUN!HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR LIGHT/HEAT FOR ALL!NOT COME CLOSER OR GO FAR AWAY!OH MY UNIVERSE!HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING HARMONY!NOT DESTROYING LOVELY WORLD!OH MY GOD!HOW CAN I THANK YOU FOR THIS LOVELY WORLD/UNIVERSE&MY HEART WORKING SO FAR!

DURING THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN AT FJELL SKOLE,DRAMMEN, I MET HON.MINISTER OF EDUCATION: KRISTIN HALVORSEN & SPOKE AT THE PUBLIC MEETING WITH 3 NEW IDEAS OF URGENT NEED:LOCALLY: 1 YEAR JOB TRAINING TO YOUTHS+IMMIGRANTS;NATIONALLY:MONITORING CITIZEN COMMITTEES IN EACH STREET REGARDING NAZI/EXTREME GROUPS/ENVT PROTECTION;INTERNATIONALLY:GON ACTIVE VOICE & INVOLVEMENT IN HR,JUSTICE,FREEDOM,POLITICAL SOLUTIONS IN ASIA,AFRICA &LA.I EXPLAINED THE SITUATION IN SRILANKA/TAMIL SUFFERINGS AS WELL AS NEED OF NORWAY'S ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT EVEN DURING POST-WAR PERIOD TOO! ......NSP

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that Jordan should immediately allow 24 Sri Lankan former domestic workers, many of whom were allegedly abused by their employers, to return home.

The workers have been stranded in Amman since January 2011, unable to pay government-imposed fines and threatened with eviction.The migrant domestic workers were not responsible for falling out of documented residency status, had no means to rectify their situation, and are too poor to pay the fines.

“Jordan is in effect punishing these workers for escaping abusive households by piling on daily fines that prevent them from returning to their families,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Meanwhile, the employers, who abused the women and, as the law requires, should pay the fines, go unpunished.”

On January 24, 37 Sri Lankan migrant domestic workers who had sought shelter at the Sri Lankan embassy left in protest at being confined there and at what they said was embassy inaction in facilitating their return home. The workers had been in Jordan for between 2 and 11 years. They had spent between a few months and more than a year-and-a-half in the embassy shelter waiting to go home, after leaving the households where they were employed. Some have since been deported or returned home after charitable payments of their fines, but 24 remain in Jordan.

The reasons the workers had fled their workplaces included non-payment of salaries, refusal by the employer or recruitment agency to buy them a required ticket to return home, beatings, or overwork. Human Rights Watch interviewed some of the workers in January and has received detailed case information from Tamkeen, a Jordanian nongovernmental organization that helps migrant domestic workers and serves as their legal representative.

Asiya Umma Noordeen, for example, told Tamkeen that she had worked for 11 years without pay before fleeing to the embassy on September 14, 2010. She cannot return to Sri Lanka because her employers never applied on her behalf for the residency and work permits required by law, so she has incurred thousands of Jordanian dinars in fines, the HRW added. 'dailymirror.lk'

Sunday, March 6, 2011

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 3, 2011 (IPS) - The world’s key arms manufacturers are still firmly entrenched in the United States and Western Europe, while some of the newly-emerging military industries in China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Israel, Turkey and Kuwait are trailing mostly far behind. A new study released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) points out that only 10 of the world’s 100 largest arms manufacturers are now based in Asia and the Middle East, with none in Latin America or Africa.

But many of the arms manufacturers in these countries are seeking collaborative partners with U.S. or European companies, either for joint military production or technology transfers, "in order to springboard into more sophisticated technologies".

China, on the other hand, has its own vibrant arms industry with companies such as China North Industries Corporation (Norinco), China Aviation Industry Corporation and China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation producing a wide range of military products, including jet fighters, helicopters, warships and heavy artillery.

Still, the leaders in the defence industry come overwhelmingly from the United States and Western Europe, including companies such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Raytheon, United Technologies (US), British Aerospace Systems, Aerospatiale-Matra and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, according to the study.

Asked whether Asian and Middle Eastern companies will catch up with the United States and Western Europe, Dr. Susan Jackson, SIPRI’s arms industry expert, told IPS: "As a project, we do not make forecasts."

But it is generally hard to say where these companies will be in 10 years, especially given uncertainties on what countries will perceive as their purchasing needs, she added.

Jackson said it is challenging for arms producers outside of the United States and Western Europe to increase their arms sales to the same levels, especially when compared to the United States.

"The United States has such a large arms market and in the near term is likely to continue purchasing - which makes it difficult for companies outside of the U.S. market to increase their ranking even if they increase their arms sales," said Jackson, researcher and head of SIPRI’s Arms Production Project Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.

The SIPRI report points out that despite the continuing global economic recession in 2009, total arms sales of the world’s 100 largest arms-producing companies increased by 14.8 billion dollars from 2008 to reach 401 billion dollars in 2009, according to the latest available figures.

This was a real increase of eight percent, according to new data on international arms production released last week by the Stockholm-based institute dedicated to research into conflicts, armaments, arms control and disarmament.

Jackson said U.S. government spending on military goods and services is a key factor in rising arms sales by U.S. arms- producing and military services companies and for Western European companies.

And some of the European countries have a foothold in the U.S. arms and military services market, making them beneficiaries of rising U.S. defence spending.

According to the data in the new report, 45 of the top 100 companies are based in the United States.

These companies generated just under 247 billion dollars in total arms sales, which is 61.5 percent of the top 100 arms sales, while 33 are based in nine Western European countries: Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

These companies generated 120 billion dollars in total arms sales, which is 30 percent of the top 100 arms sales, while 26 of the key Western European arms producers are based primarily in four countries: France, Germany, Italy, and the UK.

Last week a London daily reported that the United States had expressed doubts about the suitability of corporate partnership with an Indian aerospace company in a hefty 11- billion-dollar contract to provide New Delhi with 126 new fighter planes.

Asked about the progress made by non-European and non-U.S. companies, Jackson singled out the Israeli arms industry, which relies heavily on the United States.

But one area in which Israel competes in the global arms markets in its own right is in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) research and development.

"There are other areas but UAVs are a good example because Israel is a leading producer of UAVs for the global arms market," she pointed out.

Jackson said Israel decided earlier on that it would focus on niche markets and that is what it has done.

She said there will be more information on Israel, as well as South Korea and Turkey, in the SIPRI Yearbook due to be released in June.